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Beach, mountains, urban parks, and an active and youthful university campus, I ran each of them during my quick visit to Los Angeles.  Why? Because they were available to me and to the millions of others who live, visit, work and play in LA.  I wanted to Get Out There!

Each one provided a unique experience to my running regime but all of them made me want to hurry home and run the Jacksonville neighborhoods that embrace and support runners, walkers, and cyclists.

The trails of Santa Monica Beach and Venice Beach have a unique sense of community and place.  They encourage smiles, laughter and happiness. This 6-mile (round-trip) trail was no ordinary running opportunity.

I observed first hand how personal health behaviors, happiness; overall quality of life is enhanced when people are given accessibility to health promoting activities.
Every bit of the beach from the Santa Monica Pier to the Venice Beach Pier was lined with accessible and free health-promoting activities such as a paved walking, jogging, roller-blading and bicycle trails, chin up bars, outdoor weight lifting equipment, 16 paddle tennis courts, 6 basketball courts, 3 squash/racquet ball courts, a skateboard rink and volleyball nets stretched across the beach horizon from one pier to the other.

Lets not forget the number of people utilizing the two fishing piers, young people walking on the beach singing and playing their guitar, and the surfers in their wet suits trying to catch the perfect wave.  At 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, this three-mile stretch of beach was moving!  Hundreds of people were taking advantage of these wonderful and free amenities.  It was impressive!

Urban Parks and Mountains

Within easy sight and distance from any point in the city and stuck right in the middle of chaotic 405 and 110 were the County/State managed urban parks and mountains.   They were well maintained, safe, and were developed specifically for walkers, joggers, hikers, and the adventurous bicyclist.  When I ran the mountain trails in Bonelli Park, I was impressed with the variety of activities that were available to all who accessed nature at its purist.  I saw bird enthusiasts with their binoculars, families with their children feeding the 5 different types of ducks swimming in the pond, and people fishing off the small pier extending over the pond.  We were all sharing the bountiful resources under our feet and were living the county’s value statement:  ”Creating Communities through People Parks and Programs.”

University of Southern California
“Equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development”

Absolutely beautiful!  This is one of the prettiest campuses I have ever visited.

Surrounded by LA’s Downtown vibrancy, the hustle of I-110, accessible mass transit, the enrichment of LA’s diverse socio-economic neighborhoods, and sounds of
heavy machinery building new mixed-use housing, I ran every corner of the campus enjoying all of the outdoor art, the variety of water fountains, architecture of the buildings both old and new, the beautiful landscaping, and the numerous outdoor cafes.

I was most impressed with the openness and accessibility of the campus to the outside community.  I actually ran along side of who I’m sure were future USC Olympic track and field stars right on USC’s track.  It was awesome! The competitor in me (read my first blog) wanted to challenge her to a foot race.  I soon came to my senses.  I thought it would be important to get back to Jacksonville without having a story about how I fell again (only my closest blogging friends will understand that reference).

Here’s the deal.  My trip to LA was incredible.  I loved it.  There is something incredibly exhilarating about the west coast.   Wading in a pool of conflict with itself, LA is crowded, the traffic is horrible, the smog does indeed hover above the city.  BUT, at the same time it is very apparent to me that leaders and advocates go out of their way to connect health, a sense of place, happiness, preservation of natural resources, and accessibility to an economic imperative (unlike Houston).  Northeast Florida has communities that embrace these same qualities.   That’s why we created the Hale & Hearty 7k so we could recognize their vibrancy and celebrate their efforts for making health the cornerstone to quality of life.

Visit (and walk, job, bicycle) one of the local parks in your neighborhood, go play on the beach, go and explore Baldwin Trail, walk your child to school for one week.  Do what you can to live healthy, to play healthy, and to work healthy.   Just get out there Jacksonville!